Teaching children to swim

Recent accidents involving injuries and drownings among children have become a haunting concern for many. To reduce the risk of drowning deaths and promote children's health during the summer holidays, youth organizations at all levels in the province have been actively organizing classes to teach children drowning prevention skills for many years.

The swimming class was organized by the District Youth Union, the Dong Hung District Cultural and Sports Center, and the Dong Son Commune Youth Union.

In Tan Lap commune (Vu Thu district), Tran Tien Nam is regularly taken by his father to the Provincial Children's Cultural Center's swimming pool three times a week to learn to swim. He said: "In the beginning, I was not only taught basic swimming movements but also how to prevent and respond to drowning, such as not swimming freely in ponds, lakes, and rivers; and warming up thoroughly before swimming... Nam's swimming class is well-organized, from the provision of equipment such as life jackets and rescue tools to the teaching and learning process, which is closely supervised. Staff are divided into groups to support and manage each learning content, from simple to complex, such as general warm-up, land-based exercises, breathing, arm strokes, frog kicks, underwater swimming movements; how to lift, support, grasp, and pull a drowning person... This activity has been taking place for more than 20 summers."

With the dedicated guidance of the coaches, from theory to appropriate movements and practices, the swimming lessons organized by the Youth Union of Duyen Hai commune (Hung Ha) were not boring but also brought excitement to the children.

Twelve-year-old Nguyen Thi Phuong Linh from Bui Tien village said: "The swimming class is very meaningful. It helps me learn more skills to prevent drowning and improves my health. It's also a beneficial playground because I make new friends here."

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, Secretary of the Youth Union of Duyen Hai commune: Along with organizing swimming lessons and equipping children with skills to prevent and combat drowning, for many years the Executive Committee of the Youth Union of the commune has also promoted propaganda and warnings about the reality of drowning; conducted surveys and placed warning signs in areas prone to drowning; assigned Youth Union officials to be in charge of village clusters in the afternoons to remind children to pay attention to safety when swimming, thereby contributing to protecting children's safety.

Preventing drowning among children during the summer is considered a crucial task by all levels of the Youth Union. Although specific figures are not yet available, free or partially free swimming lessons are organized for children in all districts and cities. Local Youth Union branches coordinate with swimming pools, professional coaches, and physical education teachers in schools to teach children how to swim. Using a method that combines theory and practice at the pool, children apply and test their learned knowledge and skills, contributing to the development of swimming skills and reducing drowning accidents and injuries. Furthermore, local Youth Union branches actively educate parents and the public to regularly monitor and supervise children, especially during the summer holidays and the rainy season, to prevent tragic accidents.

However, opening free swimming classes still faces some difficulties. Having taught swimming to children in many localities for over 10 years, Mr. Pham Tien Nam, from the Dong Hung District Cultural and Sports Center, said: "The biggest difficulty in teaching swimming to children is the lack of swimming pools, while the demand for swimming lessons is very high. In many localities, children learn in ponds, where the water source and depth may not be safe, and only a few people can learn. In ponds, teachers and youth union officials mainly introduce the simplest and most basic techniques. Besides that, the cost of organizing swimming classes is quite high due to the need for regular water treatment in the ponds."

Mr. Pham Cong Lanh, from Tong Tho Nam village, Dong My commune ( Thai Binh city), said: "The swimming lessons in the commune have been maintained for decades in a sturdy concrete swimming pool. Although it is renovated annually, the water is murky and muddy, which affects the children's swimming lessons. I hope there will be a clean and safe swimming pool so that the children can enjoy swimming."

The Youth Union of An Tan commune (Thai Thuy district) has put up warning signs in deep water areas to prevent drowning.

According to the Provincial Youth Union's plan, this summer, youth union branches at all levels in the province will organize 260 activities to raise awareness about preventing drowning, injuries, and child abuse; organize 50 free swimming lessons for children; mobilize and donate 3 fixed and mobile swimming pools; and mobilize and donate life jackets for children. These activities by the youth union, along with the involvement of all levels, sectors, and families, will ensure a safe and enriching summer for children.